College of the Holy Cross ---> PUCP (Lima, Peru): Excellent experience and would recommend

EdOdyssey's approach to the "study abroad" experience is unique, as it strived to immerse us in Peruvian culture, traditions, and language, rather than dumping students into apartment buildings with a brief orientation session. We were placed with host families throughout Lima. My host family helped me to do simple things like: navigate the city, learn how to take the bus, etc. They also taught me about Peruvian customs, traditions, jokes, etc. EdOdyssey did a great job with host family selection!

EdOdyssey also worked to make sure that we we became familiar with various parts of Peruvian history and geography by taking us on trips/excursions to different parts of the country (a 4/5 day trip to Iquitos, 3-4 day trip to Ica, etc.).

Their orientation for us was simple, hands off, but valuable. They taught us about the main districts of Lima, safety, language, transportation. They also brought us to museums and archeological sites. These were important to learn about Lima as a visitor (ie- how to safely travel, etc.), but also as a citizen of the world (what happened during the 80s/90s? Who were Sendero Luminoso? What happened under Fujimori? etc.). While there were a variety of different tours, they were not overwhelming. We still had plenty of time to go out and discover the city on our own terms.

**One quick note: I went to Lima January 2017-August 2017. While there has been some changes since to EdOdyssey's staff, there is one thing that I want to warn about: our site leader was a bit unorganized. She was almost always 1-1.5 hours late, and often times had not fully prepared us/herself for the trip (not sending a reminder about what types of things to pack, not knowing that the restaurant that she had planned to bring us to would be closed at that time of the day, etc.). I have been in touch since with their directors and understand that there have been some staff changes, so this may no longer be a problem.

Overall: this is a great program. The above complaint aside, staff members are very kind, and really do want to help you learn about what it means to be a Peruvian. They aim to give a snapshot into daily life, culture, and customs. If you're interested in getting a genuine culture immersion, go with EdOdyssey!!